I suppose I could say that my wife has a tendency to “putz around” our house. She could be sweeping the living room floor when she sees a glass that needs to be taken to the kitchen. In the kitchen, she sees dish towels that should be thrown into the clothes hamper. And so it goes. She flitters around the house like a butterfly going from flower to flower. I thought about her when I looked at the characters in today’s story.

I will begin with the husband in the family, but I will eventually get around to today’s birthday girl. Heinrich Wilhelm Putz was born on November 12, 1871, the son of Joseph and Josephine (Reisenbichler) Putz. Henry was baptized at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas, and since our museum does not have the actual images from that congregation’s books, I cannot display his baptism record. Henry is found in the 1880 census at the age of 8. Both of Henry’s parents had been married before. Joseph Putz had been married to Katharine Pilz, and that couple had some children. Josephine Reisenbichler had been married to John Kain, and that couple had one child. So, the household below is a blended family of Putz’s and a Kain. Henry’s father was a farmer in the Shawnee Township.

That would be the only census entry we can see with Henry being a single man because we cannot view the 1890 census. So, we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Johanna Christiana Ruehling, who was born on September 18, 1876. That means today would be her special 150th birthday. Christiana was the daughter of Herman and Pauline (Petzoldt) Ruehling. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at her baptism record below.

Christiana would have been around 4 years old when the 1880 census was taken. A note in our German Family Tree says the Ruehling family moved to the Shawnee Township of northern Cape Girardeau County when Christiana was about 5 years old. I failed to find the Ruehling’s in a Perry County census entry, and I also failed to find them in a Cape Girardeau County census entry. I think this may be the case of the census taker in Perry County compiling his data after the Ruehling’s moved, and the Cape Girardeau census taker compiled his data prior to the Ruehling’s showing up in his county. Long story, short. I failed to find the Ruehling’s in the 1880 census. That means I did not find Christiana in a census until after she was married.

Henry Putz married Christiana Ruehling on December 27, 1893 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Pocahontas. This was likely one of those cases in which the couple was told to wait until after Christmas to get married. I cannot display a church record, but I am able to show 2 civil records for this wedding. The first one is their Missouri marriage license, which was rather difficult to find because it is almost unreadable. Ancestry.com spells the names of the bride and groom much differently than they are really spelled.

Family Search lists 5 children born to the Putz’s. All but one of them were born prior to the 1900 census. We see 4 children in this pair’s entry for that year. Henry was called a dry goods salesman. They were living in the village of Pocahontas.

Next, we find the Putz’s in the 1910 census. Their oldest son, Fred, had died in 1905 at the age of 10, so this time, we see just 3 of their children in this entry, along with a young nephew, Eberhardt Zorn. Eberhardt was the son of Christiana’s sister, Olga, who had died in 1908. Henry was a letter carrier for the post office.

The last child in this Putz family was born in 1911. In the 1920 census, there were 2 sons in the Putz family. Also living with them was Eberhardt Ruehling, Christiana’s single brother. Eberhardt would get married later that year. I have included the entry for Christian Reisenbichler’s family, which is found under that of the Putz’s. Henry, Eberhardt, and Christian were all called carpenters, and they were all living in Pocahontas.

At about this time, we find evidence that Henry Putz and Christian Reisenbichler were also the undertakers in Pocahontas. I have seen notations like the one shown on the death certificate below.

When the 1930 census was taken, Henry and Christiana had an empty nest. Henry was called a county treasurer. Christiana was also called the telephone operator.

A note from a Petzoldt family history is included in our German Family Tree about Christiana and the phone company in Pocahontas. It also references the fact that Christiana had the nickname, “Kissie”.

[PetzoldtFamilyBook]: Kissie’s family moved to Cape Girardeau Co when she was 5 years old, Around 1910, Kissie & Henry were the first to install a telephone in the community. They had to buy their own equipment and hook it up to the nearest hook-up point, this was the start of the Farmer’s Mutual Telephone System. Kissie was the chief operator for 30 years. During WWI, they did not operate the telephone system

The 1940 census entry for the Putz’s once again shows only Henry and Christiana. Henry is called an undertaker, but it also uses the words, “garden fruit”, in the business column. Christiana is called a telephone operator.

The last census the public can view is the one taken in 1950. This time, at the age of 78, Henry was the one who was called the telephone operator.

Henry Putz died in 1952 at the age of 80. His death certificate below gives his usual occupation as telephone operator. Also, by this time, you no longer see undertakers on death certificates, but you see the names of funeral homes.

We can read Henry’s obituary from the Cash Book Journal. It mention’s his additional services as being the secretary at St. John’s Lutheran Church, organizing the Sunday School at that congregation, and being the secretary or the Pocahontas Board of Education.

Christiana Putz died in 1965 at the age of 88. Her death certificate says she died at the Deal Nursing Home in Jackson.

Henry and Christiana Putz are buried together in the St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery in Pocahontas.

You can sure tell that Henry was one of those guys who did not stick with the same job throughout his life. He went from a dry goods salesman to a letter carrier to a carpenter to a county treasurer to an undertaker to a telephone operator, with a bit of evidence pointing to him dealing with fruit. He certainly found different ways to support his wife and family. He also found additional ways to serve his church and his community. His wife also pitched in to help support the family by running a telephone company.

I can also imagine that Henry and Christiana may have had a conversation such as this.

Henry: “Kissie?”

Christiana: “Not now, honey.”

I suppose I could refer to that as another version of Putz-ing around, huh?